Re-VIEW Staged readings from the Black Plays Archive Draper Hall
(31 Oct)

In collaboration with the National Theatre’s Black Plays Archive (BPA), the online catalogue for the first professional production of every African, Caribbean and Black British play produced in Britain, we present the inaugurating evening of Re-VIEW, the first of a series of staged readings of excerpts of plays by Black authors of past decades.

These plays speak of important themes seen from a Black perspective, they were all staged to great acclaim at the time they were written: they must not be forgotten.

It is our privilege at Draper Hall to host the inaugurating evening of this crucial initiative, in the bouquet of our offers for Black History Month 2019.

The evening will see extracts from SKYVERS by Barry Reckord first produced in 1963 at the Royal Court, LONDON CALLING by Una Marson (1938), one of Jamaica’s most important feminists and dramatists and The BLINKARDS by Kobina Sekyi, written in 1915.

Directed by Kaleya Baxe

Do not miss the inaugural evening of this important cultural operation.

Doors open 6.30pm – reading 7.30pm

Bar and food available on the premises

How to get to Draper Hall (From Elephant&Castle station)

SYNOPSES

Skyvers: Barry Reckord’s play, written in 1963 and set in 1960s London, focuses on a group of boys, as they spend the last few days at their comprehensive school. Set in South London, the play looks at alienation and entrapment, for both boys and girls, bounded by sex, violence and the prospect of dull dead-end jobs.

London Calling: Una Marson’s 1938 play looks at the experience of Black international students in the UK at the time. Marson satirises not only the ignorance of the British about the Caribbean but also the loss of connection by Caribbeans with their African heritage.

The Blinkards: Kobina Sekyi’s satire looks at the damaging influence of Western culture on African societies. The play was first performed in London in 1915 and its humour and incisiveness still have an impact today in this tale set in Ghana of social manners upset by an unsuitable marriage .

In association with media partner AFRIDIZIAK

Afridiziak Theatre News is the UK’s only website dedicated to celebrating African-Caribbean theatre